We have lost our understanding of the holiness of God.
When? How? Why has that happened?
Is it because we wanted to stay relevant and relatable?
Is it because the idea of “holiness” seemed inconvenient and unappealing?
Is it because it’s easier to disregard and disobey a faceless, distant,
unreachable, and of-minimal-importance-god-figure?
Are we trying to bring God down to our size?
Make Him less formidable?
Not so scary?
Not so ultimate?
Not so god-like?
Is part of the problem, that we don’t fully understand the meaning of holiness?
If you’ve been around the church for any time at all, you could most likely give the standard, simplified definition for “holy” – set apart and without sin. At its most basic, that’s a fine definition as it applies to believers. We are to be set apart – belonging to God – living for Him. And because of Jesus, God sees us washed clean in His blood – pure and spotless. (Isaiah 1:18, 1 John 1:7)
Any holiness that we possess is an act of God’s grace in us and for us, and it is dependent on our obedience. “Our” holiness is ONLY a reflection of the holiness of God, through the work of Jesus Christ, and the indwelling presence of God’s Holy Spirit. (Leviticus 11:44, 45; 1 Peter 1:16)
The problem is that we carry that definition with us when we read passages where “holiness” is ascribed to God. We miss the fact that His holiness transcends all other.
There is NOTHING that comes close to His equal.
There is NO OTHER like Him.
HE is ONLY.
(Isaiah 42:8; 43:10b, 11; 44:6, 8b; 45:5-6, 21b-22; 46:9; 48:11b)
“Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer,
the LORD of hosts:
‘I am the first and I am the last;
besides ME there is no god.’” Isaiah 44:6
That is the holiness of God. He transcends all others, He is one-of-a-kind, and His holiness is singular in its nature.
This past weekend, my husband and I visited a local church. One of the pastors opened the service in prayer. At first, I thought maybe I had misheard him – I didn’t think so, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt. It turned out that same pastor brought the morning’s message. I listened closely to his opening remarks and then to his prayer before he began the sermon. He started that prayer with the exact words that I was sure I had heard at the beginning of his first prayer.
“Hey, God!”
My heart literally skipped a beat and my stomach clenched. “Hey, God!” Who did that man think he was addressing…from a pulpit, no less. I was horrified!
Who do we think we are?
Yes, God welcomes us – His children – into His throne room any time we turn to Him in prayer. Through Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest, and His one-time blood sacrifice on the cross, we have direct access to God our Father. (Hebrews 9:11-28)
But, dear Friend, that does not mean that we kick the door in, stomp across the floor, and say “Hey, You!” We wouldn’t do that to a neighbor, a friend, our pastor, our boss – we wouldn’t enter the presence of an equal much less a superior with a greeting like that.
Can you imagine walking unannounced into the throne room at Buckingham Palace greeting the newly proclaimed, King of England, King Charles III, with “Hey, King!” No doubt, you would find yourself roughly escorted out of the throne room by two very large members of the British Foot Guard (the royal guard).
And yet, a pastor in a pulpit has the audacity to call out to Almighty God, “Hey God!”
I recently read “The Holiness of God” by R. C. Sproul and the now-out-of-print “Holiness” by Henry Blackaby. Both are excellent works by men of God who are captivated by the holiness of God and deeply mindful of God’s requirement that His children pursue holiness. I highly recommend both.
Sproul talks about the effect that God’s holiness has on those who come face-to-face with “holy” using the story of Jesus calming the stormy Sea of Galilee (Mark 4:35-41). When a sudden and powerful windstorm threatened to break up the boat that was carrying Jesus and His disciples, the frantic followers wakened Jesus who was asleep in the stern of the boat. Jesus calmly tells the wind and sea to “Be still.” Immediately, the storm and the sea obey.
Sproul writes “What is significant about this scriptural story is that the disciples’ fear increased after the threat of the storm was removed. The storm had made them afraid. Jesus’ action to still the tempest made them more afraid. In the power of Christ, they met something more frightening than they had ever met in nature. They were in the presence of the holy.”1
And so, it should be when we meet holy – we should be simultaneously awestruck and terrified in the realization that at our best we stand unworthy in the presence of holy.
Isaiah is given a vision of “the Lord God on His throne, high and lifted up; and the train of His robe filled the temple. The seraphim stand around the throne calling out “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” The mighty voice of the one calling out causes an earthquake and the temple is filled with smoke. (Isaiah 6:1-5)
Isaiah cries out, “Woe is me! For I am lost (undone, ruined, destroyed); for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:5) In the presence of holy God, the prophet Isaiah – messenger of God – is sure that he is doomed because he is unclean. That is how holy should affect us. Overwhelming, convicting, terrifying in its holy majesty.
Read the eleven verses of Revelation chapter four out loud to yourself. Picture in your mind’s eye the scene that John witnessed: God Almighty, Who is beyond mortal description, seated on His throne, which is encircled by a rainbow; there are flashes of lightening, peals of thunder, torches of fire, a crystal sea of glass before the throne, and four cherubim that endlessly circle the throne worshiping God with these words:
“Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”
Holiness Enthroned.
Holiness that is transcendent above ALL else.
Holiness that is like no other.
God’s name is Holy because HE is holy – it is not a name that is to be used carelessly or as an expression of surprise or dismay or disdain, nor is it to be used as a curse word. It saddens me when I hear believers use God’s name lightly or approach Him flippantly, as in “Hey, God!”
“So you shall keep My commandments and do them: I am the LORD. And you shall not profane My holy name…I am the LORD who sanctifies you, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the LORD.” Leviticus 22:31, 32
My prayer for you and for me:
Father God,
May we, Your children, get a glimpse of the magnificence of Your holiness and may it drive us to our knees before Your throne. May we not be fearful knowing that we kneel before You washed in the blood of Jesus – not yet perfected, still works in progress – but help us to understand that Your holiness is above and beyond all other, and it is worthy of all glory, praise, and honor. Teach us to worship You – the transcendent majesty of Your glory and the beauty of Your holiness.
In the precious and power-filled name of Jesus Christ I pray,
Amen and Amen.
“Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind…
remember the former things of old;
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.”
Isaiah 46: 9
“For our heart is glad in Him, because we trust in His holy name.” Psalm 33:21
“Let them praise Your great and awesome name! Holy is He! Psalm 99:3
1 “The Holiness of God,” R.C. Sproul, Tyndale Momentum, 1998, p.51